RAMALLAH, April 29, 2017 (WAFA) - The Central Elections Commission (CEC) Saturday published the final register of electoral lists and candidates competing in the May 13 local elections commencing as a result the election campaigns.

In an official statement, the CEC said elections will be held in 145 councils in the West Bank where more than one electoral list was nominated.

The total number of nominated lists in these localities is 536 with 4411 candidates competing for a total of 1561 council seats.

The CEC has also announced that 181 localities had only one nominated electoral list in each, thus will win by acclamation on elections days. The number of candidates in these lists is 1683 representing the number of designated seats.

There are also 65 localities which had incomplete nominated electoral lists and in which elections will not take place. The decision on the formation of local councils in such localities will be done through the cabinet.

As the data of the register demonstrates, the total number of female candidates has reached 1584 representing 26% of the 6094 total number of candidates.

With the publishing of the final lists and candidates, election campaigning activities also commended on Saturday and will continue for 13 days according to law and elections timeline, said the CEC.

Local elections will be held in only the West Bank after Hamas, which controls Gaza, has decided to boycott the elections and ban them in the Gaza Strip.

The last local elections were held in 2012 also in only the West Bank.

M.K.